Tag Archives: johnhowellpark

The construction activity at the western end of John Howell Park is almost complete. The new granite walls on three sides of the volleyball courts are finished, new columns have been built along Virginia, and the steps that lead to the courts from the street along Arcadia are done. The path connecting the sidewalk to the new plaza is finished.

We await the new wrought iron fences around the court and along Virginia; they will be offset sufficiently to allow room to sit along the inside. The same contractor will install a new railing on the Arcadia steps. New hollies (refugees from Ponce City Market) have been planted; more landscaping in this area will follow during this dormant season and beyond.

A couple of minor issues are as yet unresolved. That said – and a few enlightening and amusing episodes notwithstanding – the entire process has proceeded fairly well. Much of the credit for that goes to our extremely capable landscape architect (and the park’s original designer), Peter Frawley, who has been steady and calm even amidst occasional chaos. Park Pride is paying for half our expenses on this project; without them the project would not have been possible.The city’s Parks Department has donated the fences along Arcadia, which is a huge help; Parks Commissioner Doug Voss has been a constant supporter.

We expect the fences to be installed in December, and we look forward to a formal dedication ceremony this spring.

The VHCA would like to thank Park Pride and MSL Group for providing 20+ volunteers who spent last Friday morning sprucing up parts of John Howell Park.

These awesome volunteers mulched around the plants along Virginia Ave., sanded a bench near the Phoenix Flies statue in the middle of park and pitched in to help complete an erosion control project between the eastern and central sections of the park. The volunteers – who work for Midtown PR firm MSL Group and were coordinated by Park Pride – went the extra mile in helping improve VaHi’s largest park and we really appreciate their time and efforts.

Thanks again to Park Pride, PP’s volunteer manager John Ahern and the generous, hard-working team from MSL Group!

Scroll down for some photos of the group hard at work last Friday morning.

Volunteers get their assignments and initial instructions from Park Pride’s John Ahern.

The VHCA’s Jack White provides instruction on the fine art of bench sanding while David Brendengerger talks erosion control with volunteers.

We love mulching!!

We love sanding benches!!

Working on the goat path…

Jack White supervising construction of the non-stairway that will eventually bear his name. Well, not really…

Contractor Hutcheson Horticultural has begun the renovation of the western end of John Howell Park. The project will substantially alter the look of the park along Arcadia Avenue opposite Inman Middle School; new granite sitting walls topped by black steel fencing that matches that at the school will replace the rusting galvanized chain link and sandbags (now, sadly, gone forever.) The walls will stop the migration of sand down the street and into the sewer system; smaller versions of them on the courts’ eastern edge will provide both seating and more formally separate the competition area from the playground. Entrance steps will offer access from Arcadia; on that street’s corner with Virginia, a new plaza will house the park’s sign and offer a gathering place for the Inman students who sometimes wait there for late pickup.

The westernmost court will be moved slightly toward Virginia, providing more room for additional landscaping, which will be installed on three sides of that court. The new fencing and landscaping along Virginia Avenue will run between the granite memorials that mark the sites of homes demolished in the Georgia Highway Department’s unsuccessful late 60’s attempt to run an interstate extension through the area. The memorial columns themselves will be raised slightly in the process.

The project will cost a little more than $100,000 overall, with about half paid by the VHCA and the other half by a matching grant from Park Pride, to whom we are deeply grateful. The City of Atlanta Parks Department and the volleyball association are also contributors; Trees Atlanta has pledged trees and planting assistance. Peter Frawley – John Howell Park’s original designer – did the landscape architecture and was a stalwart at every stage.

Only partly deterred by the sobering and exhausting firsthand experiences associated with acquiring a building permit on public property – which were eye-opening in a way that made you want to close them – the Parks Committee is really excited to see this work underway and looks forward to seeing it progress. If the weather and construction gods are kind, the granite walls will be substantially complete by the time school starts, and the remainder of the work will be done in time for some early dormant season planting.

Click here for a July 2012 Voice article that provides the vision for the current project. Click here for a firsthand look at the plans.

Has anyone else noticed the summer color exploding at the triangle island, and the wonderful new plants that have been installed at John Howell Park?

Thanks to the efforts of Nonie Daniels (landscape design and installation), Anthony DeVingo (weekly maintenance) and resident volunteers, the triangle island in front of Taco Mac and Murphy’s is looking great with lots of summer color coming out. Click here to read about the recent volunteer planting event that paved the way for what we’re enjoying now and will for weeks to come.

And special thanks to Walter Bland and crew for working hard to install many new plants at John Howell Park in the days leading up to Summerfest. There’s plenty of summer color to see around the JHP sign at Virginia and Barnett and new clusters of plants throughout the park.

Special thanks also to Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation employee Charles Hutchinson who spearheaded a comprehensive department effort to address the overhead lighting challenges that have plagued John Howell Park for so long. Thanks to Hutchinson and his crew, you should find it safer now to take a walk through the park during evening or nighttime hours.

Click here for an album of photos showing the new plantings at both locations.

The fourth annual Battle of the Burgers returns to John Howell Park this Saturday October 12 from 11 AM – 6 PM. The event features a Best Burger in Atlanta contest in which up to 25 purveyors of fine burgers will compete, including local entrants American Roadhouse, Murphy’s, Highland Tap and Taco Mac.

The event is hosted by Embraced, a local non-profit organization. General admission tickets are available for $25 in advance, $35 at the gate. VIP tickets are $50 in advance, $60 at the gate.

There will also be a 5K road race that starts and ends in John Howell park starting at 9 AM Saturday morning.

For more information on the burger cook-off (including a complete list of participating restaurants) and the road race (including a map of the course route), click here. Advance tickets may also be purchased through this site.

Work that was done last week and continues this week at John Howell Park – and much more that’s planned for later this fall and winter and next spring – is part of a process that began in 2012 with the goal of restoring the major horticultural elements included in the original plan developed by landscape architect Peter Frawley at the turn of the century. An absence of maintenance in the last half of the previous decade had allowed a huge influx of invasive plants and a marked increase in erosion in many areas. Frawley, the VHCA Parks Committee, and VHCA landscaping consultant Walter Bland of Rock Spring Farm laid out a plan last year that envisions a series of timed responses to all these challenges. Last year a large number of volunteer and arbitrary plantings were removed, bamboo around the playground was significantly eradicated, definition was restored to many of the landscaped areas, benches were sanded and cleaned, some new plants were installed, and a number of minor infrastructure repairs were made. Repairs to damaged grass were begun, particularly on the Ellipse (the Barnett end) and on the Great Lawn.

This summer’s abundant rainfall helped the grasses fill in nicely, but it also led to an abundance of weed growth and made it difficult to do other scheduled tasks until things dried out. Last week a massive amount of weeding and invasive plant reduction was done on the hillside between the upper and lower levels, new plantings were added to the Virginia Avenue slopes (more will follow in time) and in spots around the playgrounds, and more liriope – not always loved, but always practical – was installed in and around the John Howell Memorial (the black sculpture near the park’s center) to help frame it as Frawley intended. Alert park viewers will also spot related less dramatic changes, as well as the erosion challenges that remain on the south side of the upper level. While there’s no inexpensive or non-labor intensive solution for those pieces, some mitigation will occur this fall and winter.

Last year’s other significant accomplishment – securing a matching grant from Park Pride for a major renovation in and around the volleyball courts – will yield visible results in the coming seasons. The sandbags will vanish, and new granite sitting walls and more attractive fencing will be installed. More plantings and other changes will follow; the outcomes will be functional, aesthetic, and yield a lot less erosion. These plans may be viewed on the VHCA website by clicking here.

All of these projects were approached with an assumption of substantial future use and a goal of practical maintenance. Parks that are as loved and heavily utilized as John Howell will always need attention and will always show the impacts of their popularity. Both Frawley and Bland remain optimistic that the designs are solid and functional and that the new changes will blend in well and help redress some of the park’s existing challenges. We think so too; we look forward to finding out.

The Friends of John Howell Park group is currently partnering with the City of Atlanta and Hands On Atlanta in a city-led impact service initiative, “Love Your Block,” where residents are encouraged to participate in beautification projects and programs specific to their community.

With the support of Home Depot and UPS Foundations, the VHCA has received a $1,000 grant that will go towards making improvements at John Howell Park. More information will come about a volunteer work day in the fall where we will put these funds to good use.

Karla Tievsky’s Intown Suzuki class normally meets at Druid Hills Methodist Church. Taking advantage of some wonderful spring weather, the class met yesterday at John Howell Park for their spring recital. How awesome is it to live in a neighborhood that has three great parks??

The Great Frame Up and the Virginia-Highland Civic Association are partnering to help raise funds for improvements at John Howell Park, the 2.8 acre park at the geographic heart of the Virginia-Highland neighborhood.

The Great Frame Up, located at 1409 N. Highland Avenue, has commissioned City Prints Map Art, creators of fine art map prints, to create a beautiful map print of the Virginia-Highland area. Prints are on sale now exclusively at The Great Frame Up. Cost is $40 with optional custom matting and framing available. For even more value, the Great Frame Up is also currently offering a 30% discount coupon on frame moulding with every custom framing order.

50% of print sale proceeds will go toward planned improvements at John Howell Park. Click here for more information on John Howell Park, including a recently awarded $50,000 grant from Park Pride that will also help fund the planned improvements.

Click here to visit The Great Frame Up website for more information and to print out the 30% discount coupon.

Park Pride announced last month it was awarding a $50,000 matching funds grant to the Friends of John Howell Park for improvements to the west side of the park, including the volleyball courts and sidewalk. The project will take place over the next year and a half. The Friends of John Howell group will begin fundraising efforts immediately to raise the remainder of the funds needed to match the grant. If you are interested in getting involved with the Friends of John Howell Park group please email us at parks@vahi.org.

The 4th Kidical Mass Atlanta, sponsored by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and the Sopo Bicycle Coop, is coming to John Howell Park on Saturday, November 10th at 10:00 a.m.

Kidical Mass is a family-friendly, law-abiding bike ride. The purpose is to teach kids, parents and caregivers safety skills and provide a ride in which to practice them. Organizers from the Sopo Bicycle Co-op and Atlanta Bicycle Coalition hope to build awareness of the growing presence of kids and families on bikes, as well as the need for all road users to respect others. Kidical Mass brings together families who bike to build a supportive bicycling community. Kidical Mass rides are comfortable for families just starting out and biking on city streets for the first time but don’t completely avoid traffic. There is safety in numbers, not just on a group ride like this but also in the day to day world of riding in the city. This ride helps families experience that comfort, and hopes participants will grow to incorporate biking into their transportation menus in the future.

The first ride in May 2011 was a hit, with 60 children and family members biking about 2 miles from Oakhurst to Downtown Decatur. Neighborhood residents on their porches fired up cell phones to photograph and film the “kidical” riders, who ranged widely in age, from toddlers on their parents’ bikes to older children and teens.

The Virginia-Highland neighborhood Kidical Mass will start at 10:00 a.m. at John Howell Park, at the corner of Virginia Ave and Barnett St. The ride will be a 1 to 2 mile slow-paced, family-friendly social ride. The route will combine residential and connector streets to raise awareness. No road closures are planned for the event.

This is a very slow-paced ride (avg. 1-10 mph). Riders are encouraged to share the fun by ringing bells, bringing noise makers, and waving to all. All types of bikes, trailers, trail-a-bikes, Xtracycles, longtails, bakfiets, long johns, tandems, folders, trikes, and whatever rolls are welcome. Organizers will give away Kidical Mass spoke cards andstickers at the ride start location at 9:30 a.m as the group gathers.

By law in Georgia, all children 16 and under must wear a helmet. Parents and caregivers are strongly encouraged to model that behavior as well as safe riding practices. The ride will stop as many times as necessary to make sure the group stays together. Streets will not be closed. Riders can join or leave the group at any point.

Guidelines for participants include personal responsibility (obey traffic laws and no group movements through stop signs and traffic lights), and parental responsibility for their own children by being aware of their location at all times.

VaHi resident Amanda Sealy (2nd from left, in the closeup photo) and 30 friends celebrated her birthday July 15th in John Howell Park. It was a lovely afternoon, and from all appearances, a good time was had all around.

Landscape architect Peter Frawley will conduct walking tours at 7 PM on Wednesday, July 18th, and Monday, July 23rd.

Parks Co-Chairs Lauren Wilkes Fralick and Jack White will conduct tours at 7:30 AM on Tuesday, July 31st and 9 AM on Saturday, August 4th.. Please come to those if you are interested. You may also write us at parks@vahi.org.

Comments Solicited for Proposed Improvements

It has been a busy and productive year on the Virginia-Highland Civic Association Parks Committee. Forming a new committee, coordinating with the City Parks Department, addressing challenges at the corner of Virginia and N. Highland, and doing a long-overdue comprehensive analysis of what was working and not working at John Howell Park have made for a very active spring and summer. In each of these efforts, we’ve had tremendous support from a variety of volunteers – experienced and new – and professionals. We’re excited to report on what’s been done thus far and what lies in front of us, and we need your ideas, thoughts, and support, particularly at John Howell Park.

The year began in winter with the establishment of a new committee – John Becker, Lauren Wilkes Fralick, Laura Voisinet, and Jack White – and the repair of a half-dozen damaged benches in the Streetscape near our namesake intersection. Several benches there had lost a significant number of slats from their back frames, and several more were about to do the same. One of the causes was a mortise and tendon joint that could have been stronger. The bench manufacturer shared our disappointment that the benches’ strength was less than expected and provided new backs at cost and additional metal braces for free. Those were installed, but as an extra measure of support, the craftsman making the repairs – Gary Jones, recommended to us by the woodworking crew at Highland Hardware – added new reinforcement strips along the backs of all the benches and the fronts of several others in high-use locations. The results have been excellent so far; the new backs will soon age to grey to match the original parts, this design is significantly stronger than the original, and the cost of bringing every bench up to this standard was less than the price of even three new benches. The visual and functional improvements were obvious, and feedback and results thus far has been excellent.

Of course, no design will withstand deliberate abuse, so if you see any such behaviors, please call the police and let us know.

An even more dramatic change at this same corner was VaHi resident Nonie Daniel’s design and supervised volunteer installation of a planting in the Triangle in front of Taco Mac’s, in and around the Virginia-Highland sign. Nonie is a longtime resident of the neighborhood; her professional landscaping skills have been on display for many years at the corner of Hudson and Lanier. At the Triangle she created a lovely mix of perennials and annuals, with a lot of different colors and textures and led an enthusiastically-supported planting effort and a carefully-monitored ongoing watering plan. This formerly drab space is now lovely and peaceful-looking. There will be additional work there this fall; like all successful planting sites – especially public ones – ongoing maintenance is part of the project.

It would be easy to underplay the importance of Nonie’s establishing a support team of volunteers who are invested in the work at the Triangle and provide a host of eyes upon the results. This model has been wildly successful over the last decade at Orme Park, where a vigilant and enduring band of neighbors and enthusiasts have been instrumental in the redesign and remaking of that park. That sort of organized support is critical to the success of neighborhood parks; helping that happen in all our public spaces is a major goal of the new Parks Committee.

With Orme functioning well and the Triangle humming along under Nonie’s direction, the preponderance of our effort has been directed to John Howell – which is appropriate, because (as several citizens have pointed out, in thoughtful detail), it needed it. This park holds a special place in this neighborhood’s heart and history. It sits upon land redeemed from the successful early 70’s highway fight that saved and defined this community. (The VHCA was created specifically 40 years ago to fight the road.) It is named for and is a tribute to the vision and courage of neighborhood resident (and VHCA President) John Howell, whose early work in leading and establishing the fight against AIDS made him a revered figure far beyond the boundaries of this city. And it’s the site of the Cunard Playground, which memorializes the three members of that Virginia-Highland family who were killed in a tragic accident nearly a decade ago.

Constructed on two levels, it is our largest and most-visited park; its lower half contains two separate playgrounds, two volleyball courts (that also serve as the city’s largest children’s sandboxes when not used for sport), two small grassy areas, and winding walkways. The upper half (the part nearer Barnett) was designed with lawns and larger open areas to allow assemblies and quieter sitting and strolling spaces away from the oft-busier and noisier lower one.

The neighborhood and civic association put a huge amount of effort and money into establishing the park, but very little has been spent there for the last half-decade, with obvious and painful results. The Parks Committee began by repeatedly walking through and talking to users about what they liked and didn’t, what they’d change, and – curiously – where they were from. All the responses were informative and interesting; we met tons of neighbors and folks we knew, but we were also surprised by the number of people that travel from distant neighborhoods to play there and the variety of distinct groups that use the area at different times and days. The enthusiasm for the park displayed by lots of people and ages was fortifying and great to hear.

And we needed to hear it, because the more time we spent with citizens, potential contractors and landscape professionals, the longer the list of challenges became. It included – take a deep breath – the need for long overdue pruning of the original plantings, the removal of numerous invasives and volunteer-installed plants (some in odd and inappropriate locations), the need to stabilize and replace several sections of fence, address broken light globes, replace missing bricks, clean and sand benches covered with mold, repurpose a granite box that once served as a sandbox but had become a litter box, fix eroding and unplanted banks along Virginia, re-establish grassy areas that had not been fertilized or aerated for years and were filled with a variety of weeds, mulch trees and plantings, and address the highly-visible challenge of either re-planting - or changing to a path – an eroding gully functioning as a dry-weather connection between the two levels.

Around the volleyball courts, there are more challenges. Sand spilling unchecked from the courts onto Arcadia makes planting on that side impossible; the same situation exists at the back of the first court, where sand migrates freely up to and through the fence. Also problematic is the absence of good delineation between the volleyball courts and the adjacent playground; children not infrequently are on the volleyball side of the granite wall and bumpers during warm-up and play, a situation that makes no one happy.

We found good news, too – lots of supportive citizens willing to volunteer time and money, and knowledgeable contractors (even the ones we didn’t wind up using) who thought the park was fundamentally beautiful and offered useful suggestions. The City of Atlanta Parks Department is and has been helpful and enthusiastic, even though we and they wish that their overall budget – particularly on infrastructure issues like leaky water lines and electrical work – was larger. Their maintenance crews have been thoughtful and communicated well with us. Challenges abound and will continue, but their effort – particularly at carefully not cutting the grass so low – has been great. The Parks Director, Doug Voss, and Design Director, Paul Taylor, could not have been more supportive.

Another key partner in this area has been Volleyball Atlanta, the group that built and has maintained the courts from day one. Reconnecting with them was critical to make sure that any changes meet their needs and in having them as a partner in fundraising for work on that end of the park. Lauren Wilkes Fralick has spent a huge amount of time on this, with excellent results.

Our contractor, Walter Bland of Rock Springs Farm, is a knowledgeable and experienced professional with particular expertise in native plants and horticulture. His crews have done an excellent job reacting to unexpected challenges under variable conditions.

Quarterbacking all this has been the park’s original landscape architect, Peter Frawley, who lives nearby and is also the designer at New Highland Park. Peter’s knowledge of the park’s original design goals has been a key in this, both in contemplating solutions and in evaluating and validating the priorities and perspectives offered by various contractors.

Here’s the way we approached it. With Peter and Walter’s guidance, we divided the list into short-term and long-term projects. We first addressed as many as possible of what we identified as park ‘quality of life’ issues: pruning, mulching (still underway, as fast as the city can get chips to the park), relocating maverick plantings, sanding, sealing, and cleaning benches (still underway, with some easily visible results), fixing broken bricks and undercut sidewalks and the worst sections of fence (nothing easy about it), removing invasive plants, and planting the littered and abandoned planter. We also aerated, fertilized, and removed weeds from the grassy areas, to see and support what useable lawn was still there, and to set the stage and to define the scope of what we needed to do on the lawns this fall.

While these efforts to protect and enhance John Howell’s existing features (planted and built) have been underway, the Parks Committee has been working with Peter and Volleyball Atlanta on some potential solutions to the long-range challenges. They do not represent any fundamental changes to the park’s original master plan, but some of them will be noticeable, particularly around the volleyball court. The city is very much in the loop; all of the ideas – there are likely to be more as we hear from more users – have been vetted through the Parks Department. We didn’t want to spend time discussing ideas in the neighborhood only to discover later that Parks had objections. They had some useful comments, but are fine with the concepts.

1. Need: Sand spilling off the court through the fence onto Arcadia, making planting impossible and smothering trees.

2. Need: Sand spilling off the rear of the court onto the walkway, making planting impossible.

Response: Move the court nearest Arcadia 10’ toward Virginia Avenue. Remove the existing fence and ugly sandbags and replace with a u-shaped granite sitting wall around 3 sides of the court nearest Arcadia, with a new fence atop it. The granite wall will contain the sand; plantings can be installed behind them. The new fence will be about 18’ from the curb on Arcadia; there should be room for plantings and a new sidewalk connecting to Virginia Avenue, if we want that. The new fence atop the wall (with the same net currently in use) will contain more volleyballs.

3. Need: There is insufficient separation between the volleyball courts and playground.

Response: Extend the existing granite wall on both ends; install appropriate plantings around the existing light pole, for shade and delineation purposes. When the courts are empty, children can still walk around the extended wall to access the sand, but the break between the two areas will be clearer. An additional new sandbox can be installed on the lightly-trafficked piece of the playground walkway on the end nearest Virginia, if desired.

4. Need: A second fence along Virginia to catch errant volleyballs that clear the first fence and go into traffic. There’s room for the fence, but the JHP sign would be behind it.

Response: Peter had suggested moving that sign in any case, and Parks Department concurs. Install a new wrought iron fence to match the once across the street at Inman between the easing columns. Raise those columns slightly, if needed. Move the sign toward the now more-spacious corner, where it will be more visible and can be part of a design that includes a formal planting of annuals and perennials to match a similar planned for the Barnett corner.

5. Need: The upper-level banks above the sidewalk along Virginia Ave. are barely planted and often used as a pedestrian shortcut. It’s hard to keep mulch or pine straw there; when events are held, those doing set-up and teardown often use the hillsides instead of the walkways.

Response: Install low granite curbs along the sidewalks to hold the soil, and plant appropriately. Monitor access during growth and events until the plantings are established. A wrought iron fence would work too, even a low one.

6. Need: The upper level walkway is partly bricked and partly not.

Response: Sell and install inscribed bricks there, bringing closure to a project initiated a decade ago and giving another generation of citizens a chance to be memorialized in the park.

7. Need: There’s an eroding gully between the upper and lower level that conveys water and silt in rainstorms and is frequently used as a shortcut, though it can be slippery and tough to walk on.

Response: Citizens appear to be voting with their feet for a pedestrian connection here, and many interviewed users were supportive of the option. Install granite steps; connect them to the existing upper walkway via stepping stones amidst low plantings that will absorb flows. Plant the areas along the sidewalk to absorb water there too.

There are other contemplated changes; these are the major ones, at least in our view. The VHCA web site will have detailed pdfs; links will be readily visible on our home page. There are many ways you can provide input. Landscape architect Peter Frawley will conduct walking tours at 7 PM on Wednesday, July 18th, and Monday, July 23rd. Parks Co-Chairs Lauren Wilkes Fralick and Jack White will conduct tours at 7:30 AM on Tuesday, July 31st and 9 AM on Saturday, August 4th.. Please come to those if you are interested. You may also write us at parks@vahi.org. If none of those times work for you, let us know. We’re there a lot, and we’ll find a time to meet you.

Your thoughts and concerns are welcome. These ideas are a synthesis of many different observations and ideas, but they are very much notset in stone. Please let us hear from you – what you like and what you don’t, and your new ideas.

“What might all this cost, who will pay for it, when might it happen?”

Good questions, every one. Obviously final costs will depend on whatever plan is adopted. Costs vary with fits and finishes; there are some variables there, but the broad conceptual criteria were that the proposed changes address the known problems, were practical, needs as little maintenance as possible, and were consistent with the park’s overall standards. We went through a similar process at Orme and approved a plan with much broader changes than those currently on the table here without a specific notions of how we’d pay for it; then we costed it (with some options) and went out in search of grants to support it, did fundraising internally, and asked for help from other groups. Some of these solutions stand alone and can be sequentially; some are closely-related and need to be done together.

Searching for specific support requires an approved plan; until you have one, we’re still talking. We think it’s all doable, as it proved to be at Orme. For openers, we’ll look to our colleagues at Park Pride for grant opportunities, possibly as early as this fall if we’re ready; perhaps we can be. Volleyball Atlanta will be going through similar processes to raise money for their part of the changes around the courts.

Many grants require matching funds; we’re hoping that twixt all these parties and citizen volunteers, we can bring some good grant applications with substantive support to the table.

We’ll be cleaning out and replanting in the granite planter between the playgrounds at John Howell Park this Saturday from 10 AM ’til noon. Please join us – it’ll be fun! For more info, contact parks@vahi.org.

The Virginia-Highland Civic Association Parks Committee has been talking to a variety of local citizens, park users, and landscape designers about improvements to the park, and we’d like to hear what you think. Please join us Saturday March 10 at 2 PM for a walk around the park and help develop a plan for what the park needs. If you can’t make it tomorrow, there will be other chances, and you can also write us at parks@vahi.org.

I have been alerted to some urban campers in John Howell Park – all city parks are closed from 11 p.m. til 6 a.m. – and sightings of such overnight campers should be reported to 911. Now that the weather is warmer keep a watch before this becomes a rampant problem in this park as well as Orme Park.

I just recently have had some e-mails and phone conversations with some folks concerned about activities in the Cunard playground area of John Howell Park and under the bridge at Orme Park. A couple of other neighborhood folks and myself will be having a brain-storming session with Dr. Bockman at Inman School soon – so if you have stories or suggested solutions – let me know at safety@vahi.org Graffiti is only part of the problem here.

In case you have not seen the disgusting graffiti in the Cunard playground are of John Howell Park – it has been reported to parks department for removal. I also took pix and sent them to APD’s gang unit to see if they have any gang relationship. I also heard that Grady High School had a lot of graffiti this past weekend – but it has been removed. It has been suggested that we have a standing committee of graffiti removers to counteract future and current displays. Let me know if you are interested in keeping this type of vandalism out of VaHi – before it becomes a real big problem here. Let me know if you would like to serve as the need arises – if we had a half-dozen or so folks available I think we could keep abreast of infestations. I can get supplies from Keep Atlanta Beautiful.

- Find out how the Joneses live and support your community (Tour of Homes)
- Civic Association award more than $40,000 to local organizations
- Letter from the President, by Kevin Cronin (opposing Piedmont Park parking deck)
- Orme Park drainage problems to be addressed
- MARTA oughta to be smarta, by Chip Gallagher
- Tour of Homes 2004 (description and picture of each picture)
- This could be you: sad shamed and sued, by Chip Gallagher
- Five taxi stands should reduce traffic problems
- Civic association offers funds for off-duty police patrols, by Jean Ellen Jones
- The Good Neighbor (portrait of Cynthia Gentry, who led efforts to build Cunard playground at John Howell Park), by Nonie Daniel
- The Highland Hoer: Time for outdoor cleanup, by John Wolfinger
- Community survey form

Join us for the Grand Opening Ceremonies of the Cunard Memorial Playground. We’ll have a few words from Mayor Shirley Franklin, Councilwoman Ann Fauver, Commissioner of Parks Dianne Harnell Cohen, a special presentation to Brad Cunard, and the unveiling of the Cunard Memorial. Then there will be music, food, balloons, fun, surprises, and ice cream!

Background: On July 10, 2003, the Virginia-Highland community was shocked by the sudden loss of three neighbors – Lisa Cunard and her two sons, Max, 3, and Owen, 5-months-old – when a tree fell on their car during a storm. Brad Cunard was driving the car and he survived, but was left with the devastating loss of his wife and sons. Neighbors, friends and loved ones have rallied around Brad offering love and support, and are now paying tribute to the loss by opening the memorial playground in John Howell Park, for which they helped raised more than $150,000 to build.

(photo missing)

Brad is in photo with Cynthia Gentry, who headed the playground committee, at the November 15, 2003 installation day.

Help clean up the park to get it ready for the big day. The committee is encouraging neighbors who would like to help to sign up in advance at playground@vahi.org, especially if you’re bringing a group, but it is not mandatory. Feel free to bring along rakes and brooms. We’ll have some, but could always use more.

The children will be there from 10am until noon, with ice cream served at noon. They will be picking up sticks, washing the playground equipment, sweeping, raking, pouring new sand in the sand box, unpacking sandbox toys, etc. We will welcome all ages. All children must have an adult that is responsible for them; i.e. no drop-offs. The adults will work that afternoon from 1 until around 4. (They get ice cream, too.)

For more information, please contact Cynthia Gentry by email at cynthiagentry@mindspring.com, 404.853.4878 or leave a message at 404.222.8244. Contributions to the playground are still encouraged and can be made payable to “Park Pride,” and please write “for Cunard Memorial Playground” on the memo line. Mail checks to the Virginia-Highland Civic Association, P.O. Box 8401, Station F, Atlanta, Ga., 31106.

We did it! Thanks for everyone’s sweat and tears on Saturday! We had over 400 volunteers help us install the playground equipment, plant the Cunard Memorial Garden, and beautify John Howell Park. Volunteers came from as far away as Seattle, Washington and from Canton, Marietta and Flowery Branch, too! We were especially touched to have Brad’s family come from Monticello and Lisa’s brother from North Carolina.

Each volunteer put his or her whole heart and soul into the assigned tasks and truly made a difference. We know that Brad sends his thanks and appreciation for everyone’s contribution to the project.

We especially would like to thank all of the business that either donated materials, food or goods for our build day. (We’re still compiling the list of generous contributors!)

Virginia-Highland is a great neighborhood and we thank each of you for making it even better!

We look forward to seeing you at the Opening Ceremonies in March 2004 (date to be determined) and at Summerfest on June 5th and 6th !

- Build a playground at John Howell Park
- Meet your new board of directors (bios)
- Dramatic transformation of Piedmont Park continues with the help of VHCA challenge grant
- Public menorah lighting, by Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman
- President’s address, by Kevin Cronin (Summerfest funds raised; $46K in grants to neighborhood)
- Highland Hoer: Gardening in Virginia-Highland has come a long way since the ’70s, by John Wolfinger

- VHCA unveils new web site for the new year and years to come, by Gina Davis
- PEDS update, by billie jo
- Summerfest committee introduces new chair of the Summerfest Artists’ Market, by P.K. Trettel
- President’s Address
- Ask Officer Dave
- Intown Women’s Group to host charity fundraiser, by Laurie Dugoniths
- Taking care of the trees in your neighborhood, by Kenyetta Lindsey
- Fire Station #19 dedicated new state of the art engine, by Jenn Ballentine
- THe history and future of John Howell Park, by Stephanie Coffin
- Taste great, less filling: population density and Virginia Highland in context, by Chip Gallagher
- The Highland Ho-er by John Wolfinger
- Fight Back Against Crime, by Beth Marks

- the fate of Summerfest will be decided at the December VHCA meeting: Should we enlarge it, make it smaller? Should we move it from John Howell Park?
- Meet your new board (bios of all board members)
- Having a bad hair day? (Review of VaHi hari salons), by Deborah Cox
- Recycle today, by Nan Hunter
- “B.A.T.”, bicycle quiz by Mike Goodman
- John Howell Park Project (update) by Jerry Bright
- School news
- Shop for a good cause, Window to the World, Mennonite church shop opens

Updates:
- 764-784 Ponce Place development to be limited to townhomes and condos, not high-density rental units
- YWCA coming to stie of Spanish Baptist Church
- Thanks to Sharon Bagby and Highland Hardware for revitalizing Triangle,
- Thanks to Shemin Nurseries for donating 10 cherry trees to park
- Virginia-Highland Designer Showhouse was held October 1988 at 1166 St. Charles Place, sponsored by TWIGS, benefiting VaHi Civic Fund and Egleston Hospital
- L.A.M.P. (Living AIDS Memorial Park) aims to develop a national shrine in John Howell Park, where memorial services can be conducted.

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